Kasahorow: Online dictionary of standard written Akan

The kasahorow dictionary is a popular dictionary of the Akan language group. It is meant to help improve the accessibility of written material meant for oral communication to all who can comprehend any of the Twi/Fante varieties of Akan.

The public may contribute entries via the internet to the dictionary. All contributions are verified by the Kasahorow Editor.

1.http://www.yale.edu/akan This version contains all verified entries of the dictionary. It is updated every five minutes with the latest verified entries.

2.http://kasa.ghanathink.org/akan This version contains all entries, verified and unverified. Entries are accepted from all visitors to the page. Contributors willing to be listed on the project page may sign up and contribute as members of the online GhanaConscious community.

Dictionary Features

* Multi-lingual entries

o Standard Akan

o Twi

o Fante

o English Synonyms

* Uniform Spelling Rules

* Single Orthography

* Multi-lingual search

o Simple Search

o Advanced Search

The dictionary has been designed to be as flexible for the user as possible. There is no need for any special software apart from a modern browser. The dictionary works best in Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or Internet Explorer 6.

Simple Search: To look up a word, type into the search box whatever information about the word that comes to mind, in Akan, Twi, Fante, or English.

How to use the dictionary

To look up a word, you search for it by typing in the search box on the web page. There are two ways of searching the dictionary:

1. Simple Search: This is a multilingual search of the dictionary. Your search term could be the Standard Akan spelling; the Twi spelling; the Fante spelling; the English synonym; a phrase in the entry’s meaning, example or notes; or the general subject area of the term.

2. Advanced Search: To narrow down the search results results significantly by selecting specific values for the various fields of an entry. The searchable fields are as follows:

a. Standard Akan (AK)

b. Twi

c. Fante

d. English Synonym (EN)

e. Part of Speech – A K, EN

f. Definition – AK

g. Example – AK

h. Terminology – AK, EN

i. Notes – AK, EN

This is an example of an entry search by an English user.

kilomita, n- [General]

[Twi: kilomita] [Fante: kilomita]

SI nsusuho a ?kyer? b?y? kwansin ?ha-mu-eduesia-ebien

[English Synonyms: kilometer, kilometer]

Kofi nantew kilomita anan anapa biara de k? skuul.

Notes: SI: Système Internationale d'Unités

Users can toggle between the Akan keyboard layout ( ‘?’ replaces ‘Q’ and ‘?’ replaces ‘J’) and their own language layout by toggling the Keyboard Layout checkbox.

Default (checked): Akan keyboard layout

Project background

The kasahorow Akan dictionary is supported by the Yale University African Studies Council. It is supervised by Dr. Ann Biersteker (ann.biersteker@yale.edu), Director of the African Languages Program at Yale. It is a part of the Dictionaries Project of GhanaThink Tsooboi (http://tsooboi.ghanathink.org ). The current editor of the dictionary is Paa Kwesi Imbeah (imbeah@ghanathink.org).

kasahorow
Yale University Council on African Studies
34 Hillhouse Avenue
P O Box 208206
New Haven, CT 06520-8206
USA
http://www.yale.edu/akan
african.studies@yale.edu

The Dictionaries Project The GhanaThink Foundation Tsooboi Projects P O Box 397197
Cambridge, MA 02139
USA

c/o P O Box MC1904 Takoradi Ghana

http://kasa.ghanathink.org/akan

kasa@ghanathink.org